Pokémon Ranger
by mr-numpty
Summary: One trainer and his team of disorderly Pokémon will soon realize just what it means to walk the path of a Ranger. But will the physical and mental strain prove to be too much? Or will his team keep him afloat? Because the path of a Ranger is the hardest one of all.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: A new team.**

"Hey!"

"Hey, wake up!"

I awoke staring into the eyes of my luxio, Raiden.

He beamed at me as I sat up, my eyes slowly focusing on the room around me.

"Do you know what today is?" He asked, maintaining his wide toothy smile. I knew exactly what today was. Today was the day of my 18th birthday, meaning that as of today I was officially a Pokémon trainer.

The legal training age was actually 16, but I figured that waiting a few more years would mean I was less likely to do something stupid. I looked down at Raiden; he took it as a sign to elaborate. "Today you promised you would become a trainer!" He squealed excitedly. "And I become a trained Pokémon!" He could hardly contain himself as he started jumping on the bed, smiling. The least I could do was get up as quickly as possible, throwing my usual attire over myself (which consisted of denim jeans and an olive drab fleece) before trotting off down the stairs, with Raiden at my heels the entire time.

Me and Raiden first met when my parents ran him over in our car. He ran out into the road chasing a lone Beedrill, he wasn't terribly injured, just unconscious. When we took him to the nearest centre I had decided; he would be my first Pokémon. He seemed to like the idea.

That was when I was 6. Since then he had evolved from a little shinx into a fully grown luxio and he was soon due another evolution.

I grabbed my military Bergen that I had packed last night and double checked its contents; it all seemed to be there; maybe I wasn't as dippy as I had myself down to be. With a grunt I hefted the bag onto my shoulders and made for the door.

I should mention that we live in Veilstone city, Sinnoh. And around here; trainers are a very common sight. So, as expected our first battle was only a stone's throw away. But it wasn't quite what we were expecting.

As we slowly entered the forest, two things became immediately clear; someone was very angry and also that same person had access to a vast array curse words. I silently signalled for Raiden to stay low as I peered around a nearby tree. I had to reel back suddenly to avoid the shattered remains of a Pokeball that collided with aforementioned tree.

"Stupid bastard!" That same voice called. "Get in the fucking ball you orange prick!"

I could see what was going on now; A boy who looked to be around 16 was hurling volley after volley of pokeballs at a rather beaten up looking dragonite. Maybe 'beaten up' was an understatement; It looked like it had been dragged through hell. It had a black eye, numerous lacerations and several nasty looking burns; I was amazed it could even stand.

That was when I saw it; it was wearing a small, black backpack on its back. This Pokémon has a trainer, and that little shit was practically killing it! I stepped out of my makeshift cover and into plain view, my luxio still beside me.

"Hey!" I yelled at the assailant. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm catching a Pokémon, dumbass." He replied, frustration evident on his face.

I stepped closer. "That's a trained Pokémon, genius." I deadpanned. "You _can't _catch it. Besides, look what you're doing to it!" I yelled, gesturing to the now swaying dragonite. Its scales looked a few shades lighter than it should have and it seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

"Now, are you going to leave, or are we going to have a problem?" I asked.

"I'm sure the local rangers would love to hear about this." I continued.

"Then I will battle you for him!" I glanced over at him. "Who?" I asked, slightly confused.

"The dragonite!" He practically screamed back. "You want him? Fight me."

I was about to reply but Raiden beat me to it; "He can't. He hasn't got his licence yet." I could do nothing but wince at that. This whole ordeal was going south very quickly.

I could see the mental cogs turning in the boys mind. Eventually, he spoke; "So you aren't a trained Pokémon? Meaning he hasn't technically caught you yet?" He asked with a smirk. Raiden shook his head and I saw the boy reach for another pokeball. I quickly stepped forward producing an 8 inch survival knife from my pocket. I held it out in front of me in a ready position.

"Try it and you die." I growled. His eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. "Whoa, hang on there, mate. I wasn't gonna"- He stammered, but I cut him off, smacking the ball out of his hands. "Well guess what, _mate_. I've just lost patience with you. Now kindly, piss off!" I snarled, gesturing off into the woods.

Needless to say, He turned tail pretty quickly and ran off into the forest. I turned back to Raiden, his eyes looked vacant and he was shaking slightly. "You okay?" I asked, concerned with my Pokémon's welfare. "I feel kinda funny." Was the statement I received before he collapsed.

"Raiden!" I yelled, running to his side. His body became enveloped in a bright white light, which became brighter to the point where I had to shield my eyes. When the light faded, There was no sign of the luxio, only a _very _large luxray. One that was now chest height with me. "Wow." I stated. "Wow indeed." The luxray replied.

_My _luxray.

"This is freaking awesome!" He continued, doing a little jig. "I can feel all this power and…" He gasped. "I can see through stuff too!" He added smiling at me. Yeah, it was still Raiden, but that smile would no longer pass for cute. His new, sharper teeth ensured he looked absolutely terrifying.

I sighed to myself. This was going to take getting used to.

Shit! The dragonite! I mentally cursed myself for forgetting. I congratulated the excited luxray, patting him on the head before making my way over to the large orange dragon. It looked a little bit better, but the wounds were still there, and it looked completely knackered.

I stepped toward it slowly, hands raised in an offering of peace.

Its focus switched from the floor to me, and it was only then could I appreciate the sheer size of the creature; It was easily 2ft taller than me sitting down and I estimated it could easily be 10ft when it was standing.

It looked me up and down, and then glanced over at Raiden, who seemed to be examining his new claws.

"Thank you." It said sincerely. Its voice was smooth and masculine. It was most likely male, then.

I waved off the comment. "Don't thank me yet, we need to get you to a Pokémon centre. Here, I'll help you." I stated, offering him a hand.

Thirty minutes later and we had finally arrived at the Veilstone centre, Raidens' new ability to see through walls proving to be invaluable.

As our party staggered precariously through the automatic doors, the nurse ran up to us, a small army of chansey in tow.

"Oh good, you found him!" She exclaimed as the chansey swarmed the wounded dragon, picking him up and carrying him off. I waved to him as he was carted away.

"Who is he?" I asked the pink-haired nurse.

"Have you heard of a trainer named Keith Young?" Was her reply.

I Knew exactly who he was. I followed his campaign across Sinnoh on television, he was looking to be the next champion and everyone knew it. Right up to his disappearance last year.

"Who hasn't?" I replied. The nurse brushed off the comment. "Well, that dragonite was on his team."

"Really?"

"Yes, and he's been missing since his trainers' disappearance, a year by himself, out in the wild. Thanks again for bringing him in."

"It's no problem. What happens to him now?"

"That's all up to him, we just need him here to register his decision and to check up on him."

At that moment, the horde of chansey waddled back into the lobby, the leader of which sided up to Nurse Joy; "We fixed the dragonite!" It chimed, the others nodding in agreement. And sure enough said dragonite rounded the corner behind them, largely covered in bandages. He decidedly looked much better; most of his bruises had mostly faded.

I shook my head at a sudden thought; "The real reason I came here was to pick up my trainer's licence, but I got a little side-tracked. If you could give it to me we'll be on our way." I said gesturing to my luxray, who was still checking out his new form.

"No problem, just gimme a sec." The Nurse replied walking over to a large filing cabinet adjacent to the front desk, and browsed its contents.

"Name?"

"Jack Walker"

"Gender?"

"Uh, male." As if it wasn't obvious.

"Date of birth? Oh wait, never mind. Here you go." She produced a laminated piece of card from the cabinet and handed it to me. It was formatted like any official licences were; Names and other information in bold lettering to the right side, and a large picture of my face featuring a _very _stupid looking smile to the left.

"Thanks." I said, before turning to Raiden, who was now staring at the card in my hand. "Well, now I can officially capture you." I stated, provoking an accepting nod from him. I took a pokeball out of my bag and held it in front of myself. "Try not to break it, these are expensive." I said with a smile.

"Who, me? Never." Raiden replied with a grin. I gently tossed the ball in his direction; it immediately burst open and pulled Raiden inside with a beam of red light. Once he was in the ball clattered to the floor and rolled slightly on the tiling, the button on the front pulsed red for a couple of seconds and then; nothing. I carefully shuffled over to the now stationary ball and released Raiden again. "I told you I wouldn't break it." He said, poking his tongue out at me. "Yeah, okay, okay. You were right." I admitted, ruffling the fur on the top of his head.

Turning back to the Nurse, I saw the dragonite whispering something in her ear. Whatever he was saying, he clearly didn't want us to hear.

"Have you entered my luxray on the system?" I interrupted.

"Oh, uh, yeah I have." She stated. "Hey listen. Jack, was it?"

"Yes"

"The dragonite; His name is Maverick, and he asks if you could take him on as one of your team. What do you think?"

"I uh…" I honestly didn't know what to say. It's not every day that a high-level semi-legendary Pokémon _asks_ to be on your team.

"_Me_? Are you _sure?_ I mean, I'm new to this, and there are plenty of experienced trainers about." I asked the dragonite.

He turned and whispered to the nurse once more, his face showing a few degrees of embarrassment.

"He says it doesn't matter how inexperienced you are. You were kind to him and protected him from bad people. You remind him of his old trainer."

"Oh, okay. What do you think Raiden?" I asked, turning to him once again.

"The more the merrier." He stated. "Besides, it might get boring with just you to talk to." He quipped.

"Watch it!" I warned. This sort of banter was frequent between us, no matter what it sounds like we were close friends, and we both knew it.

"Yes, we would be honoured to have you on our team, Maverick." I nodded to the dragonite. "Let's make it official." I continued before capturing him, and then releasing him.

"Shall we go?" I asked my newly formed team. They nodded in reply. I turned, thanked the nurse and exited the centre.

"Welcome to the world of training" Maverick chimed.

"Happy freakin' birthday, trainer." Raiden added.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Hard earned Cash**

"Ugh, we've been walking for hours, and we haven't seen a single city since Veilstone." Raiden complained. It was true though, it had been five hours since we had left the Pokémon centre and we hadn't stopped once. There were nothing but trees for as far as the eye could see.

"I think we might be lost."

"We aren't lost, Maverick." I replied.

"Hey look, it's that trainer with the Pikachu again!" Raiden exclaimed, gesturing with a paw. I looked up, he was right. The trainer in question was propped up against a tree, her Pikachu at her feet. We had tried to challenge her earlier but she refused on account of my newly acquired dragonite.

"Are you guys lost or something?" She quipped as we passed. I ignored the remark but I noticed Raiden nodding at her and rolling his eyes at me. Traitor.

We walked for another hundred meters or so before we entered a small grassy clearing. I decided enough was enough; "Okay guys, stop here a second. I could do with a break." Raiden promptly collapsed onto his side and Maverick sat down, crossing his legs. I sat down with them; passing around a canteen of water and some berries.

"Hey, I've always wanted to know; what's it like inside a pokeball?" I asked. "It depends on where the Pokémon feels the most comfortable." Raiden replied. "For me, it's your apartment in Veilstone." He continued. "What about you Mav?" He asked, turning to the orange dragon.

"Oh, uh, it's my old trainer's farm." He answered, staring up at the evening sky. I saw a thought flash in his eyes and he looked back down at me, his expression serious and cold. "Can I share something with you? It's pretty important." I was taken aback by this. "Yeah sure, mate. We are a team now; you should not have to carry your burdens by yourself." He seemed to appreciate this as his expression lightened slightly, before returning. "My old trainer was murdered." That was a kicker. Me and Raiden sat there in stunned silence, mouths agape. Maverick just stared at the ground, hugging his knees. Eventually I managed to speak up; "By who?" I asked, voice wavering.

"The Rockets." He replied, gaze not moving from the spot on the ground.

"But the Rockets are just petty thieves aren't they?" I was majorly confused by these events. The Rockets were known the world over for their insanely long winded plans to capture powerful Pokémon – and failing miserably.

"Those days are over." Raiden corrected. "Their leader, Giovanni has overhauled the whole organisation. Getting rid of the old members and recruiting mercenaries." He continued.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "How do you know all this?" He gave me a quizzical look. "Hey, I watch the news, you play videogames." He had me there. "Heh, yeah. I do." I admitted.

"And my trainer vowed to close down on the organisation if he ever became champion." Maverick added. Drawing our attention. "So they made sure he never would." I could see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes and I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "They got the rest of the team, too." He bit back a sob. "I was the only one who survived. My trainer, he released me and told me to get as far away as possible. And I did." He looked up once more, wiping the tears away.

"Raidens right, they are becoming a military superpower. And god knows they are planning something." The dragonite said.

I thought about this new information; "Military superpower? Like the"-

"Like the Russians?" Came a distinctly _Russian_ voice.

We all turned to face the newcomer. He was male, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, jet black hair and slight stubble. The most noticeable thing about him though was the camouflage gear he was wearing with the ranger emblem emblazoned on the shoulder, as well as the large nidoqueen looming over his shoulder.

He shuffled his feet in the grass awkwardly. "Eh, sorry, I was just on patrol and I heard you guys talking, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't check everything was okay."

"No, that's fine. I can appreciate that." Maverick replied. I had noticed he hadn't taken his eyes off of the nidoqueen since its arrival. That will be something to tease him about later.

The Ranger noticed his gaze hand gestured to the large blue Pokémon. "Sorry, where are my manners? This is Galina. She doesn't speak English yet though. I am Boris Vetrov, or officer Vetrov. Whichever you prefer." He said with a laugh. His nidoqueen tapped him on the shoulder. "Ты закончила изводить эти люди? Мы увидим их снова так или иначе.." She said, in what I thought was a criticizing manner.

"У нас еще есть три часа нашего сдвиг влево, вы хотите, чтобы бродить вокруг станции до тех пор?" Boris replied. I wasn't sure I liked not knowing what they were saying. Galina nodded and the Ranger turned back to us. "It was a brief visit but I have to bid you farewell. We _will_ see each other again." He stated before turning and heading off back into the treeline, Galina leading the way.

Raiden was the first one to comment; "That was… Unusual." I nodded. "No kidding." I agreed.

We sat in silence for several minutes, staring in the direction the duo left. Eventually, I spoke up again; "Maverick, you can fly, right?"

"Yes, of course." He answered, flexing his wings. "How fast can you go?" I asked, leaning forward. He thought for a moment before replying; "Fast enough to break the sound barrier. I can outrun an F22 raptor quite easily." He said with pride evident on his face. "It's starting to get dark, could you scout around a bit, see if you can spot a town nearby?" I asked. "Yeah, I can do that." He replied before effortlessly taking to the skies and speeding off.

The sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon, giving the clouds a pinkish glow and casting ever longer shadows over the plain. I stared off into the sky, my luxray doing the same as he sat by my side. "I gotta say, Jack. This is nice, out here, with good company. It really makes you feel like you are part of something." Raiden stated, gaze unmoving. "I hear you. It's great, ain't it?" I replied.

"Look, I know I give you a hard time sometimes, but you know I don't mean it, right?" He said after a while. I ruffled the fur on his head. "Don't ever change, Raiden." I stated, getting a smile from him.

"What do you think of Maverick?" I asked. "He seems like a nice guy, happy for someone with a past like his." He stated. "He's still lost, you know. He hasn't found his place in the team yet." Raiden continued. "Yeah, we can help him with that. That's why I sent him out just now. He needs to find something he can do for this team, something no one else can."

Eventually, Maverick returned; with a stack of wood in his arms. "The nearest town is Solaceon, but it's at least a three hour walk from here; so I thought we could camp here for the night." He stated, dropping the pile of logs. "Thanks Mav." I said, but he dismissed it with a wave of a clawed paw. "It's no problem, really. Besides you did save me earlier."

"Maverick, you didn't choose me as your trainer just because of that did you?" I asked in as stern a tone as I could muster. "You don't owe me anything, you know."

"No! It's not that!" He was sounding flustered, looking at me with pleading eyes. "I _want_ to be on this team, with you and Raiden." He paused for a moment. "I just felt it was time to move on. Time to realise that Keith isn't coming back, and when I saw you defend a Pokémon you didn't even know I just knew I couldn't let the opportunity pass." He stared at the ground, looking too sad for me to bear. There was something about a sad dragonite that I just couldn't handle.

"Mav, I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me." I said, holding out a hand. "Are we good?" He took my hand in his paw and shook. "We're good" he said.

We were all sat in silence again, Maverick having lit the fire with a flamethrower attack. The sun had completely set by then. Pink clouds yielding to the dark blanket of night, being pierced only by the masses of shimmering white stars.

"What's in the bag, Mav?" Raiden asked the dragonite, spying him rummaging around in his backpack. "Oh, just some of my things; mainly photos n' stuff." He spotted something. "I have this, though." He said, producing an acoustic guitar from the large rucksack. "Keith taught me how to play." He stated, giving the instrument a strum. "Well go on then." The luxray goaded. "Give us a song!" "Well, there is this one song I know." The dragonite said before starting to play. His claws well suited for plucking the strings. After a short intro; he started to sing.

"I hear the train a comin'  
It's rollin' 'round the bend,  
And I ain't seen the sunshine,  
Since, I don't know when,  
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,  
And time keeps draggin' on,  
But that train keeps a-rollin',  
On down to San Antone.

When I was just a baby,  
My Mama told me, 'Son,  
Always be a good boy,  
Don't ever play with guns,'  
But I shot a man in Reno,  
Just to watch him die,  
When I hear that whistle blowin',  
I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folks eatin',  
In a fancy dining car,  
They're probably drinkin' coffee,  
And smokin' big cigars,  
But I know I had it comin',  
I know I can't be free,  
But those people keep a-movin',  
And that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison,  
If that railroad train was mine,  
I bet I'd move out over a little,  
Farther down the line,  
Far from Folsom Prison,  
That's where I want to stay,  
And I'd let that lonesome whistle,  
Blow my Blues away."

He finished with a few more strums. "That was great Mav!" Raiden exclaimed. I nodded in agreement. "That was Folsom Prison Blues, wasn't it?" I asked, rising an eyebrow "Yeah, Keith really liked this sort of music, so I picked it up from him." Maverick replied, placing the guitar back in its bag.

We talked for what must have been several more hours before the day's events took its toll on our tired bodies; and one by one we drifted off to sleep.

Soon, the only noise for miles around was the crackling embers of the campfire.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

Yeah, so here's the next chapter and the first author's note, but that's only because I forgot. To clear some things up; this is my first fanfic so there will be a few errors here and there. Additionally, reviews will be greatly appreciated and would be a big confidence booster.

In this chapter; action! Well, momentarily anyway.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 3: The Rangers**

I was awoken by a boot to the stomach.

Crying out; I tried to get up, but I found myself pinned to the ground by another boot. I looked at my aggressor; his face was hidden by a black balaclava and what appeared to be a black combat helmet. It was then that I noticed the bright red 'R' on the front of it – Team Rocket insignia.

"Oh Fuck." Was all I could say.

The Rocket turned to talk to his friend – Who was pointing an assault rifle at Maverick and Raiden.

"Radio command. Tell them we have found the dragonite." The one with the rifle said.

"Yeah, what do we do with the trainer and the luxray?"

"We can't let em' go, so cap em', we'll burn the bodies."

"Roger that."

He turned back to me, crouching down slightly. "Sorry kid, it's nothing personal. But hey, you won't die for nothing; we're gonna get a _stack_ of cash for this." He stood back up to his full height, took a pistol from his holster and levelled it with my head. I closed my eyes. My life was over, just turned 18. I would never get to be a trainer either. I just hoped Raiden would manage to escape somehow.

A shot sounded out.

I slowly opened my eyes again. The pistol had shifted aim and the Rocket holding it was looking away. – I noticed why; the other Rocket was sprawled on the ground, his clothes were burnt and smoking but he seemed to be alive. Maverick must have hit him with a hyper-beam, I thought. The Rocket near me raised his gun to the dragonite, but never got the chance to fire as he was hit by another hyper-beam; sending him the same way as his friend. "Are you okay?" Mav asked, rushing over to me. "Yeah, I think so." I replied, getting to my feet. "What the _fuck_?!" Raiden shouted. It wasn't hard to tell he was shaken up, so I thought it would be best to return him to his pokeball.

I turned back to Maverick and he shoved the Rockets' assault rifle into my arms. I looked at him questioningly but he refused to look at me. "Finish the job." He said coldly. "Maverick…" I began, but he cut me off. "No, you have to. If you don't they will only find us again. And next time I might not be able to save you." He still wouldn't look at me. I examined the rifle in my hands; it was an AK47, the typical 'bad guy' gun. Well, video games taught me something at least. This one looked like it had seen better days; the wood furniture was scratched all over and the front grip was held on with duct tape. I pulled the bolt back slightly; there was already a round in the chamber. These guys were ready to take lives, so I was ready to take theirs. I strode over to the one who had kicked me and lined the muzzle up to his head, just like he had done to me. "You're fucked, kid. You're all fucked. The rockets will tear you apart!" He said under laboured breaths. I just grimaced and looked away, pulling the trigger. There was a loud bang and report from the rifle as it bucked in my hands. I didn't look at what I had done; I knew exactly what I would have seen. I just stepped over the body and repeated the process with the other Rocket. Once the deed was done, Maverick came over to me. "Look, I know you don't feel good about this…" He started, putting his paws on my shoulders. "…But trust me, you did the right thing." I shook his paws off. "How was _that_ the right thing? I murdered two people!" I growled at him. And then he did something that shocked me; he hit me, _hard,_ in the face with an open paw. I stared at him, clutching the now throbbing side of my face. "Sorry, you needed that. Look Jack, they were going to _kill_ you, and they wouldn't pretend to give a shit about it either. They want me because I'm the only one who knows the fate of my old trainer." He paused to think for a minute. "We need to find the Ranger station, we can tell them everything. Make the truth known." There was an unmistakeable look of determination on his face. "There are bound to be more Rockets around. Hang on to the gun; you will need it to defend yourself if I can't."

I felt overwhelmed by the task, and by the sheer seriousness in his voice. There was no denying it; I was bloody terrified. "I can't do this, Mav." I said shakily, running a hand through my hair. "You can, Jack. You are strong, I can tell. You will be fine. I wouldn't ask you to do something you couldn't." I did feel a bit better at that. "Okay Mav, I'll try." He smiled slightly, and turned to one of the bodies and took off what appeared to be some sort of thick black vest with large pouches protruding from the front. He handed it to me. "Body armour; just a bit of mental security for you." He laughed. "It should have some extra ammunition in there too." He added. I slipped it over my head and secured the straps. It was heavy, but Mav was right; I did feel more secure. Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks; how did Maverick know all this? And why has his attitude changed almost completely? Realising it now was a little unsettling. I felt as if I didn't really know him. "Maverick…" I started, taking in a deep breath, "…Who _are_ you?" He just sighed before replying. "I never lied to you, Jack. But I haven't told you everything, either. I've been working with the Rangers for the past year, unofficially of course. I monitored Team Rocket for the most part, trying to slow down any progress they made." I held up a hand to stop him. "So where do I come into this? And why did you pull the whole 'I just wanted to be on your team' thing?" This turn of events was starting to get to me, and I had to admit I felt betrayed. "I am sorry about that. The truth is that I _do_ need a trainer, but one that is tough enough to join the Rangers, one like you." Oh, that was rich. "So, me then? It's me, the one you picked out of the bunch to go like a lamb to the slaughter. All for what? To avenge your dead trainer? Fuck!" I sat down and buried my face in my hands. "So all I am is a vehicle, to get what _you_ want. A means to an end." The orange reptile crouched down next to me. "It's not like that. I don't want vengeance, and this isn't some fucking suicide run either!" I looked up at him and caught his glare. "All I want is to make sure that no one else has to go through what I went through. If I have to sink the entire Rocket Empire to do it, then so be it." And with that he turned and walked away. I scrambled after him. "Hey, wait!"

"I knew you would understand." The dragon said with a smile as I caught up to him. "Well, it's not as if I have a choice now, is it? I'm on the Rocket's shit list too." Now that I thought about it, I was probably going to be on Raidens shit list as well; he was still in his pokeball and knew nothing of what happened.

It was only when it burst into life that I noticed Mav was holding the dead Rockets' radio. The voice that sounded out was female and angry. "Davis, do you have the dragonite or not?" Mav raised the radio to his mouth. "Yeah, we got him." He said with a smirk, trying to impersonate the man. "What about the trainer and his Pokémon?" The voice asked again. "The trainer has been taken care of, don't worry boss." There radio went silent for several seconds. "Who is this?" The voice demanded. "Oh, piss." Mav cursed. "Units 2 and 3, alpha team is compromised! Respond to location immediately!" The voice sounded panicked as Mav switched off the radio. He turned to me, "We should probably pick up the pace a bit, c'mon we need to get to the Ranger station." And we ran out of the clearing and back into the forest.

We had been walking for well over four hours before either one of us spoke again. Mav was the one to break the silence. "I bet you're pretty pissed at me, after all that." I just huffed, thinking of an appropriate response. "Yeah, I guess I am. I mean, I understand why you did what you did, but that doesn't make it any easier for me, or Raiden. It's going to be a while before I can trust you again." I took a pokeball from my belt. "I'm going to let Raiden out now; he deserves to know what's happening." There was a small flash of light, and the luxray was back. He looked around wide eyed, surveying the area before he exhaled and relaxed slightly. "They were rockets." He stated. "And they were trying to kill us." He was glaring at me, with a mix of anger and fear on his face. "Why in the bloody hell were they after us?" I wasn't going to enjoy this. "They were after Maverick, and because we knew him the rockets tried to kill us to cover their tracks." Raidens glare dissipated as he shook his head. "Well, fuck. So we are going to be hunted for the rest of our lives." At this point I wasn't sure how this was going to play out, and then Maverick spoke out. "No, we won't. We are going to…" He was cut off by Raiden. "Shut it, fatty. You're the one that brought this whole thing on us!" He snarled at the dragon. "What did you call me?!" Mav snarled back, baring his decidedly large teeth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise you were dumb _and _fat!" I had to dive out of the way as Maverick let loose a flamethrower, but the more agile luxray dodged it before letting loose a storm of electricity that would make Thor himself jealous. The attack hit and Mav was sent skidding along the ground. But he soon jumped to his feet and let out a fearsome roar. "I'll kill you, you fucking cat!"

I couldn't let this fight continue, they would probably kill each other. I made a step forwards when someone grabbed me around the neck and pressed a gun to my back. "Don't move, rocket scum." Came a familiar voice. "Boris?" I asked. He released me and holstered his pistol. "Oh hey, it's you! The one with the luxray!" He said in a surprisingly pleased tone. He then noticed said luxray tumbling around on the floor with the dragonite. "I see." He muttered to himself before taking out his pistol once more and firing a shot off into the air. The effect was quite comical; both Pokémon stopped immediately, Raiden hanging onto Mavs arm by his teeth and Maverick with his fist pulled back ready to punch him on the nose. Boris casually walked up to the pair. "What do you think you are doing?" He asked, the two Pokémon looking more than a bit embarrassed. He turned to the dragonite. "Maverick, this is your new trainer, yes?" the dragon nodded. "Then what were you doing fighting with his Pokémon!?" The Russian shouted. "He started it!" Mav retorted, rather childishly. "_Rebenok!_ Child! You are a Ranger, Maverick. Start acting like it!" Boris then turned to Raiden, "And you! Save your fighting for the real enemy, eh? Get some discipline!" He walked back over to me. "Your team has a lot to learn, my friend. Follow me to the station."

The journey – all 50 metres of it – was in silence. Both Raiden and Maverick were dragging their paws behind us, hanging their heads in shame. Boris had taken my stolen rifle and body armour, I didn't ask why – I just assumed it was because it was enemy equipment, but still, in a strange way, I felt naked without them.

The ranger compound was basically a large square, with tall concrete walls on all sides. The entrance was a couple of red and white striped barriers with a security booth on either side. As we approached the barriers, a voice called out from one of the booths; "Hey, Boris. I take it Maverick has found himself a trainer?" The ranger asked. "Yes, but it seems they aren't on the best of terms at the moment." Wait, how did he know? The ranger in the booth raised the barrier and we carried on through. Inside the compound, a row of landrover defender four-wheel-drives took up half of one of the walls. Each vehicle was painted in the same olive green colour and appeared to be lightly modified, featuring a large nudge bar and a winch mounted on the front. Past the vehicles was the main building; constructed largely out of wood, the building was single floored and had two large automatic glass doors at the front. We walked through the doors and into the air-conditioned lobby where we were greeted by a totodile at the front desk. "Hello!" It beamed. "Welcome to the Sunyshore ranger station… Oh, uh, hey Boris." The crocodile Pokémon looked at us inquisitively. "Who's this?" He asked, pointing at us with a claw. "It doesn't matter, Rico. Just look after these two while I go find the boss." He turned to face Mav. "Maverick, you go and do whatever it is you usually do." And with that he turned and walked off further into the building. The dragonite gave me a look as if to say 'I'm sorry' before following Boris. That just left me and Raiden alone with the totodile. I took a seat next to the window and Raiden sat on the floor in front of me. "So you're going to be a ranger, huh?" Raiden started. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. We don't have much of a choice; Mav really did put the screws in us." It was only then that I realised Rico was still listening. "Ah, it's not all bad mate, especially for a Pokémon like you." Raiden tilted his head slightly. "Explain." He demanded. "Larger Pokémon like you and Galina get to go out on all these cool missions." He stated excitedly. "But Pokémon like me are stuck at a desk." He trailed off, looking a little down. "Well I guess it'll just have to do." Raiden said to me, ignoring the totodile. "I'm sorry it's turned out like this mate, I know how much training would have meant to you." I said as I looked over at my luxray. "Shit happens. Besides, it's not like it was your fault." Silence fell upon the room, Rico pretending to read a book whilst Raiden and I just stared at the ground. "I killed two people today." My voice held no emotion. Rico threw his book down and leaned forward on his chair. "Oh ho, no way!" the little water type shouted. "You got to tell me all about…" He stopped in mid-sentence due to the glare I gave him. "I was wondering where you got that gun from." The luxray stated. "I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing either. I was just a little spooked at the time."

"Mister Walker." We all looked up at the man standing before us; He was tall with very short blonde hair. He looked very business-like wearing a shirt and tie, an odd contrast to the camouflage clothing often seen around the station. "So, you want to be a ranger do you?" He asked, leaning towards me. "Uh, yeah, I guess." He produced a small sheet of paper and a pen from a file Rico handed to him. "Okay, sign here and here" The man told me, handing me the paper. "What, just like that? No interview?" Raiden asked. "No, I couldn't spare the time and we are really low on staff." And with that he took the signed papers and left, "Boris will show you the ropes." He said over his shoulder. "Well, that was easy." The luxray commented after the man was out of earshot.


End file.
